


Please Don't Put Your Face Into Your Hands

by Spunkangel



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Manga Spoilers, Nightmares, Post-Canon, i just want them to be friends dammit!, unlikely friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 17:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20586335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunkangel/pseuds/Spunkangel
Summary: “Hey, Yuki… Can I ask you something?”“I don’t see why not,” he responded, raising the mug to his lips.“Are we… like… friends?”--In which Kyo wakes up from a nightmare and Yuki is the only person he can talk to about it.





	Please Don't Put Your Face Into Your Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted Fruits Basket fanfiction in years, so here goes nothing. Title is from "We Could Be Friends" by Freelance Whales.

Kyo woke with a jolt, his heart racing, and his skin cool with sweat. He bolted upright and tried to catch his breath, taking in gulps of air like sobs. He searched for Tohru next to him and his heart sank when he realized where he was. Instead of Tohru, Hiro and Momiji were on either side of his mat, and he could vaguely hear the ocean waves crashing on the shore just outside the window.

Kyo crossed his legs under himself and cradled his face in his hands. He took slow breaths, trying desperately to smooth out the shakiness in each one as quietly as possible. The last thing he needed was for either of the boys beside him to wake up and see him like this.

He couldn’t shake that image of Tohru - flying. Every time he closed his eyes again, there she was, and he couldn’t stop her.

There was no way he was going back to sleep for a while.

He took one last deep breath, stood up, and left the room as quietly as he could. Once in the hallway, he couldn’t help looking towards the door behind which she slept. She was with the other girls, Kisa and Rin. It seemed silly to split the sexes since he and Tohru shared a room back home, but it was only for a long weekend. Normally he wouldn’t mind, but now it was excruciating. He needed to see her face, to make sure that she was okay.

He stopped in front of the door, his hand hovering over the handle. This was creepy. Checking on Tohru was one thing, but with Kisa and Rin in there, too, it made it really weird. He considered leaving, knowing that she must be okay - there’s no way his nightmare was true - but...something deep in his gut made it impossible to walk away without knowing for sure.

As slowly and quietly as possible, he slid the door open just a bit, just enough to lay his eyes on her. And there she was, sleeping soundly, her soft face haloed by the moonlight coming in from the window. Beautiful, serene...safe. He couldn’t stop looking at her, the relief that she was okay overwhelming him. And then, in his head, he saw her flying once again, and his breath hitched.

One of the dark masses near her moved a bit, changing positions, and he realized again how creepy he was being. With one last glance at her peacefully sleeping form, he slowly slid the door closed.

It helped knowing she was okay, but it would still be a while before he could calm down enough to go to sleep. He made his way to the kitchen to make some tea.

Once there, he only turned on the light over the stove, not wanting to bring attention to anyone being in there. He filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove, staring at it as he waited for it to boil. He planned to grab it the second it started whistling so as to not alert anyone.

As he stood there with nothing else to distract him, his mind went back to the nightmare and he saw it again. Kyo shook his head violently, hoping to shake the image away, erase it forever. His breath hitched again, and his throat became tight. _Fuck this brain_, he thought, _Quit making me look at it! I don’t want to see!_ His eyes stung. He felt his forehead to begin to sweat and not from the heat of the stove.

He felt something wet on his cheeks.

“Kyo?”

Kyo spun around, his hands flying to his face to wipe away the tears.

His stomach dropped at who he saw. Out of all the people in this damn beach house, Yuki had to be the one to see him like this. Fucking of course.

“Are you... alright?” Kyo wasn’t sure if it was more confusion or concern on Yuki’s face, but it didn’t matter.

“Yeah, of course, what the hell, why wouldn’t I be okay?” Kyo’s words came out fast and unconvincing.

“Because it’s three in the morning and you look like you’re about to have a panic attack.”

“Whatever,” Kyo mumbled and turned back to the stove.

“Could I have some tea too?” Kyo could hear the creak of Yuki sitting down on one of the chairs in front of the island.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.”

They waited in silence for a minute before the kettle began to scream. Kyo grabbed it off the stove as quickly as possible. He got down two mugs and two bags of herbal tea and fixed them up. He made sure his face was dry and his expression neutral before turning to Yuki and handing him his mug.

“Thanks,” Yuki muttered, raising the mug to his lips to blow on it. Kyo didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed a chair and placed it on his side of the island so that he sat diagonally from Yuki.

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for their mugs to cool.

“So,” Yuki finally began, “you couldn’t sleep?”

“Couldn’t you?”

“Not really. No particular reason.”

They were quiet again for a bit. Kyo raised the mug to his lips and tested the temperature. Still a little too warm.

Suddenly, Yuki said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk. I’m not going to pull it out of you.”

Kyo stared at the island. Did he want to talk about it? Tohru always said that if you talk about your nightmares, that would make them less scary. Maybe she was right. Maybe getting it out of his system would help him sleep better.

Finally, Kyo asked quietly, “Do you ever have... nightmares?”

Yuki thought for a moment. “Doesn’t everybody?”

Kyo’s eyebrows creased together. “Yeah, I guess.”

Silence again. Kyo sipped his tea. It was cool enough to drink now but still so warm that it seemed to heat his entire body and relax his tense shoulders.

“You know,” Yuki began, “Tohru says that if you talk about your nightmares, that makes them less scary.”

Kyo snorted at them having the same thought. “Yeah, she does.” After a moment, Kyo steeled his resolve, swallowed, and said, “So, um, you know how my mom died, right?”

“I’m not sure of how she did it, but yes.”

“Well, she jumped in front of a train.”

“I see.”

“And in my dream... it was that, but instead of my mom, it was Tohru.”

“Mm.”

They both sipped their tea as Yuki took that in.

“That’s… horrifying,” he finally said.

“Yeah. It was. And now every time I close my eyes, I can still see it.” After a moment, he added in a rush, “It’s just that I was trying so hard to get to her, but my legs just wouldn’t move fast enough, and every time it seemed like I was getting closer, it was like she moved further away, until finally she… Anyway. That’s when I woke up.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what Yuki was supposed to say to that anyway. He picked at the mug with his fingernail.

Finally, Yuki spoke. “I guess we’re all still dealing with our trauma, even with the curse gone.”

“Yeah. I guess. I just keep thinking that she’s gonna wake up one day and come to her senses. That she’ll realize I don’t deserve her and that she can do so much better. Even my mom couldn’t handle loving me, so how could Tohru?”

“Well, for one thing, you _don’t_ deserve her and she _can_ do so much better, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s not up to you to decide what she wants or what she can handle. And on some level, she needs you. You can give her what she needs and protect her in ways that no one else can. Also, to be blunt, your mom didn’t expect to have the Cat as her child, and then she had trouble adjusting. Tohru, on the other hand, _chose_ you. Specifically. She wants _you_.”

Kyo stared at the island again. “I guess you’re right. It just sucks that my subconscious can’t get the memo.”

“That’s true. Like I said, we’re all still working through our trauma. It’ll take some time, but I think eventually we’ll get there, all of us. Not that it won’t still be a part of us, but that we’ll be able to live without being as affected by it. No more nightmares, you know?”

Kyo nodded, hopeful. “Anyway, it also sucks that we can’t sleep in the same room so I could talk to _her_ about this.”

Yuki laughed. “Yeah, that’s still a little weird for everyone. What you do in your own place is your prerogative, but no one wants to wonder if there’s any hanky panky going on in the same house as us.”

“Oh, God, Yuki! Stop being such a pervert!”

“Yeah, says the guy who wants to sleep in the same room as Tohru. And why else would you want that, huh?”

“I hate you.”

“Why do you only have one bedroom anyway? It’s so scandalous!”

“Because the two-bedroom was too damn expensive!”

Yuki just laughed again. “Okay, whatever you say.”

Kyo glared at him, but something inside him made it feel playful.

“Hey, Yuki… Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t see why not,” he responded, raising the mug to his lips.

“Are we… like… friends?”

Yuki thought for a moment. Then his expression changed as he seemed to realize something. “I suppose we… kind of are.”

“That’s fuckin weird.”

“Yes.”

“Like really, really weird.”

“Yes.”

“I guess it’s...fine though.”

“Yes… I suppose it is.”

“Hey, don’t mention anything about that dream to Tohru. I don’t want her to worry while we’re here. I’ll talk to her about it when we get back home.”

“Sure.”

“And...thanks.”

“Of course.”

“Well, we should probably try to get some sleep,” Kyo says, standing up and taking his mug to the sink.

“That’s true. I wouldn’t want Haru to wake up and come looking for me, only to catch us _bonding_.” Yuki shivered dramatically while Kyo pretended like he would throw up at the thought.

“Now that would truly be a nightmare.”

They walked down the hall together, and Kyo stopped before entering the room where he was staying. “G’night, you damn rat.”

“Goodnight, stupid cat. And thank you for the tea.” Yuki disappeared into his and Haru’s room.

Once inside, Kyo settled back into his mat. He didn’t fall asleep right away, but it didn’t take long either. As much as he hated to admit it, that rat bastard really did make him feel better.

**Author's Note:**

> I just want these two to be friends so badly!! They have such an interesting relationship! By the end, they're like brothers who annoy the hell out of each other but love each other nonetheless!


End file.
